CITIES ATTRIBUTES-Liabilities according to Sperling.
.
Tacoma, Washington ranks as the most
stressful city of the 100 largest metro areas.
Galveston, Texas
earns the dubious honor in the mid-size category, and Yuba City, California is the most stressful among the smallest metro
areas.
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Albany, New York is the least stressful large metro area, while Provo, Utah anchors the top spot among the mid-size cities as the least stressful. Among the smallest metro areas, Bismarck, North Dakota in number one in a low-stress environment.
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"Most of
the top-ten stress cities are grappling with high unemployment," said Bert Sperling, president of Sperling's Best Places.
"It affects the entire community, whether you personally have a job or not. Rising unemployment has been tied to increased
crime, and declining tax revenues force reductions in social services that affect young and old alike."
.
In the great
majority of the cities we investigated, those areas with a high percentage of divorced residents was matched with a high suicide
rate. And the opposite was true as well ... places with few divorces also had few suicides.
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Among the low-stress cities, there appears a common theme of state capitals and institutions
of higher learning. "Government and universities provide a solid economic base to smaller cities, lessening the stress
caused by economic cycles," reported Sperling
